Garnaut's post-Copenhagen waiting game - Plan B

Professor Ross Garnaut, Australia's answer to Sir Nicholas Stern, tells Tony Jones where the emerging global emissions trading market finds itself post-Copenhagen - we have entered the "waiting game":

And my proposal is a proposal that was in the original report. I call the situation we're in after Copenhagen, the waiting game.

We're waiting for international agreement to provide a basis for international trade in permits. I suggested then, and I think it's the right case now, in the waiting game, to legislate the ETS and to fix the price over a period.

Given the "Government has great difficulty in the legislation of the ETS", Garnaut has a Plan B. He laid it out in his 2008 report, The Garnaut Climate Change Review.

TONY JONES: Tony Abbott says the Government doesn't have a Plan B, if the Emissions Trading Scheme fails at every hurdle to be passed as legislation.

The Greens say that you actually have a Plan B and that Plan B is for a carbon tax - $20 a tonne - on the thousand top polluters in the country and that they, the Greens, are prepared to support it.

Is that in fact your Plan B?

PROF ROSS GARNAUT: That's the waiting game to which I referred. And which was...

TONY JONES: It wasn't- it wasn't quite clear because you referred to it as Emissions Trading Scheme legislation, but in fact, it seems to be that what the Greens are saying is this wouldn't be an Emissions Trading Scheme but a transition towards one. It would begin with two years of, effectively, a carbon tax.

PROF ROSS GARNAUT: I think they were referring to my waiting game proposal, which puts in place the ETS but has the regulator making permits available at a fixed price.

So you don't have trade in permits, you don't have fluctuations in price, until you've got an international agreement that allows us to set our targets with confidence and allows a confident basis for international trade in permits.

TONY JONES: Are you encouraged that the Greens appear to be prepared to vote in the Senate for that kind of Plan B approach and should the Government take that on board and start negotiating with the cross bench senators on that basis?

PROF ROSS GARNAUT: I'm not going to get in the middle of these complex Senate negotiations, Tony.

I think that the proposals I described as the waiting game are the best way forward in the circumstances after Copenhagen and anyone who supports them, I think, is on the right tram.

I'm glad Garnaut has a Plan B, one that sounds like the Australian economy can start now to absorb the cost, and begin seriously thinking of ways to turn it into profit when we reach the end of the waiting game. The two year deadline for the Emissions Trading Scheme legislation to become an Emissions Trading Scheme gives certainty to business to invest and encouragement to those people, families, and communities who have personally invested in minimising their footprint.

It's worth watching the interview. Is it just me or does Garnaut have a passing resemblance to Ian Plimer?

Global Warning Climate Change Energy

Ex-CIA director wants oil to go the way of salt

Over 100 years ago world powers fought over salt. True - salt preserves meat. Then they invented refrigeration, and the salt wars stopped.

Is refrigeration one reason why Gandhi dodged the British bullet for his salt satyagraha (not to take anything from the fact that he was a brilliant strategist)? Just a thought.

Anyhoo, that's what we need to happen with oil, say James Woolsey, ex-CIA director from 1993 to 1995, and now a partner in clean-energy group, VantagePoint. So goes the history lesson.

Global Warning Climate Change Energy

0-100 kmh in 3.9 seconds.... electric Tesla Roadster

It's no surprise the world's first green sports car is red...



... at 0-100 kms in 3.9 seconds.



SMH

HOLLYWOOD stars anxious to prove their green credentials are paying more than $100,000 for a sexy electric sports car now rolling out in the US.

The sleek Tesla Roadster, pictured, is modelled on the Lotus Elise, and goes from 0-100 kmh in 3.9 seconds.

With a top speed of 200 kmh, the two-seater has a range of 370 kilometres between recharges of its lithium ion batteries.

Actors George Clooney, Matt Damon and Jenny McCarthy, boxer George Foreman and singer Will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas are among those on the year-long waiting list.

Australian-born Michael "Flea" Balzary, bass player for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, said on his blog he decided to go electric after watching the documentary Who Killed The Electric Car?

A dozen Teslas are already on Californian roads.

The company founded by PayPal billionaire Elon Musk, plans to produce 10,000 Tesla sedans next year at a plant in New Mexico.

Going green doesn't have to mean giving up speed, performance and luxury. Who would have thought? No hairshirts for those on the waiting list.

Meanwhile, closer to home, for those seeking something a bit more accessible.

In Australia, Ross Blade is converting Hyundai Getz hatchbacks into his electric Blade Runner in Victoria.

They sell for $40,000, have a range of 120 kilometres per recharge with a top speed of 120 kmh. Melbourne City Council and the Victorian Government have bought one each.

"Orders are piling up and we expect to convert 200 cars this financial year," Mr Blade said.

Big US car makers are developing electric versions of existing models. Hyundai will release an LPG/electric hybrid Elantra next year while Mitsubishi will sell an all-electric car in 2010.

The NRMA has demanded the Federal Government help speed up development of electric cars.

So this petrol engine Hyundai Getz 1.6 SX is offered for $14,990 at the mid year sale.

I would have thought it had a low emissions profile, but the Prius Fuel Saver Calculator can tell you. Plugging the Hyundai Gets 1.6 in, selecting the 4 speed automatic petrol engine option, at 15,000 kms per year and $1.55 per litre of petrol the Hyundai will cost $1,651 per year in petrol.

Interestingly, a $39,000 1.5 litre hybrid electric engine Prius will cost you $1,023 per year in petrol to run (and cause 1590 kg / year carbon emissions from a fuel economy of 4.4 L / 100km verses the Hyundai Getz' 2550 kg / year at 7.1 L / 100km)

And Ross Blade's Bladerunner would cost $150 per year for off-peak green power, to approximately $250 for peak green power. Or $0 if it's solar.

Technorati Tags: global warming, climate change

Al Gore rails America for a Clean Energy "Moon Shot"

Watthead have the good oil.

By Alisha Fowler and Jesse Jenkins

Today, Al Gore became a major ally in the ongoing effort to build consensus around an investment-centered approach to solving our energy crisis and inspiring our nation to tackle the energy challenge as the defining task of our era.

Gore issued a truly ambitious challenge for America "to commit to producing 100 percent of our electricity from renewable energy and truly clean carbon-free sources within 10 years." The organization he leads, the Alliance for Climate Protection, estimates the cost of making such a "moon shot call" a reality at 1.5 to 3 trillion dollars of public and private investment over 30 years. He issued this call to "all Americans - in every walk of life: to our political leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators, engineers, and every citizen."

Technorati Tags: global warming, climate change

Whereis tells me where to go. Frankly, I love it

It's just the kind of out-there relationship you can have with a brand now-a-days. Especially one offering to plan my car journey, then offset the fuel emissions.

Whereis® (Sensis) are working with Greenfleet (who do good work restoring the Murray) on a project called GreenRoad to plant trees to offset the combined ghg emissions of their membership.

They're in the unique position to easily carbon neutralise your extra-habitual trips, you don't have to. So join up, now.

You'll love it when Whereis clears the air with you.

Global Warning Climate Change Greenfleet GreenRoad

World's first wind-powered mobile billboard and people-mover

Yarra Trams, in partnership with Pacific Hydro's southwestern Victorian Yambuk Wind Farm and Sustainability Victoria, has secured enough GreenPower 'to supply a 5-carriage tram until the end of 2008.'

This mob is switched on. Even their integrated marketing campaign is sustainable. Design it once, and run the campaign 24x7, for no extra cost.

The wind-powered tram will run along Route 96 (East Brunswick -St Kilda), which is not only Melbourne’s busiest line carrying 12 million people each year, but was recently ranked by National Geographic as one of the world’s top 10 tram rides.

The campaign incorporates a tram fully wrapped in an eye-catching wind farm design and interpretive materials on climate change and GreenPower on the interior.

I've squished down a shot of the tram, follow the above link to see it fully blown.

Very creative. Is this product marketing of the future? Here we have a consumer need for mass transit being met by a company that shows demonstrable emissions reductions as an integral part of it's product offering. After catching the tram, and reading the interpretive materials on climate change and GreenPower on the interior, you would learn something new, and travel in good conscience.

I wonder who their market is though? We're not talking organic yoghurt at the supermarket. I can't see eco-consumers conscientiously choosing the 7:21 GreenPowered over the 7:15 coal-powered one if they risk running late for work. Regular commuters would catch it anyway. But perhaps enough of the streams of tourists, among the 12 million people each year travelling Route 96 from St Kilda to East Brunswick, will seek it out as an experience to keep it well patronaged in between regular hours. Especially since making National Geographic’s top 10 tram rides ranking. Then there's your tramspotters....

It's interesting to see how the pressing problems of climate change force creative market solutions. That's a theme I'll pick up more often on Global Warming Watch.

I also wonder about the economics. The cost per MW for wind must be higher, than from coal-fired. The Yambuk project cost $50 million. But when the carbon price signal eventually kicks in these guys will be sitting pretty. Upon breaking even, every time the wind blows, pure profit trickles into the bank accounts of the investors.

The other thing to consider is the actual carbon saving. The zeitgeist is also ripe for green-wash marketeers. How does Yarra Trams' energy source really stack-up?

The wind farm contributes up to 30MW of clean electricity to the national grid, enough to supply the annual electricity needs of 18,000 Victorian homes.

Yambuk displaces up to 130,000 tonnes of global warming pollution produced by traditional power generation methods each year.

That’s like removing 30,000 cars from our roads.

Greening the Big Blue

Cleantechblog offer some tantalising speculation about IBMs move into the solar cell business. Greenwash, or clean-up? We will have a better idea within the next eighteen months.

clipped from www.cleantechblog.com We were talking on a range of topics, but one that piqued my interest was the description of IBM’s work in photovoltaics – and a few thoughts on where they were going. I did not ask, and he did not offer, any particulars on the work in progress, but he did make mention of a few points that I thought were well worth repeating: IBM is expecting to be a player in the solar cell business – likely seeing commercial impact in the next 18 months to two years. IBM is developing both advanced crystalline technologies and CIGS processes – relying on their semiconductor manufacturing expertise and nanotech research to make breakthroughs in controlling PV manufacturing processes. You will not likely see IBM making branded modules – perhaps instead a cell production business strategy? IBM sees the potential for very high efficiency multi-junction cells in foreseeable future. The fascinating part is that IBM is not a newcomer to the game. Global Warning Climate Change Energy

Business is ready to tackle climate change

Australian business CEOs, GMs and MDs are an astute lot, or at least 85.82% of them are. A survey, by Business Climate International shows that, as a group, the vast majority are overwhelmingly concerned about climate change.

With a little more education they will become a powerful environmental voice — money talks, and there's money to be saved by using energy more efficiently.

clipped from www.businessclimate.com.au Top businesses rank their concerns in exclusive poll: To gauge what the Australian business world thinks about climate change, Business Climate International recently conducted an extensive survey of some of the country’s top CEO’s across hundreds of large, medium and small businesses. Surprisingly, results show that business leaders are overwhelmingly concerned (85.82%) and a third (33.33%)believe that hunger is likely to be the biggest by- product of climate change, while almost half (42.86%) agree that pollution is indeed the main cause. The survey found that almost a quarter of polled recipients (21.43%) identify increasing populations as a contributing factor, whilst 14.29% believe waste adds to the problem. Erratic weather conditions (28.57%), desertification (14.29%), drought (14.29%) and flooding (9.52%) were also listed as resultant fears. Over half (52.77%) of recipients have watched Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth”. Global Warning Climate Change Energy

$10 per person will beat global warming

Kevin Grandia of the global warming denialist-busting website, DeSmogBlog, has done the calculations - it only takes $10 per person per year to save the planet.

He broadcast this email (which I amended to include his updated calculations).

4 May 07

The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that it would cost .12% of the world's domestic product to substantially reduce our collective greenhouse gas emissions.

• GDP of the world economy: US$60 trillion
• .12% of $60 trillion: $70 billion
• Total population of the earth: 6.5 billion
• Cost per person to significantly reduce heat-trapping gas worldwide: $10 a year
• Cost of saving the planet from droughts, famine, mass flooding, species extinction and rising sea levels: priceless.

His maths: $60 trillion/.0012/6.5 billion = $10 (rounded figures). He points out that it is more useful to break down the global figure by country and filter it though its GDP. For example, for Gambians this would cost $2.00 per head, and for Americans the cost would be $478.

Tags: global warming, climate change

Aussies voters wooed with green and gold

I predicted early on that global warming is going to be a major factor in the Australian federal elections planned for the end of this year. Last week Prime Minister John Howard belatedly recognised this in attempting to divert the focus away from AGW and onto economic management, when he claimed that, "climate change is not the overriding moral challenge for Australians". Then he contradicted himself by clearing the way for a nuclear powered future, using global warming mitigation as his Trojan horse.

This weekend Labor pressed on with its perceived electoral advantage, announcing a policy to subsidise home generated solar energy for households earning under $250,00 per year by way of interest free loans. One big benefit of this approach, to my mind, is that it would stimulate a local solar and renewable energy industry.

clipped from www.smh.com.au Labor loans for green homes Phillip Hudson April 29, 2007 - 12:22PM About 200,000 households will be able to get cheap loans of up to $10,000 from a Labor Government to install solar panels, water tanks and other ''green'' climate friendly devices, Labor leader Kevin Rudd promised today. Announcing the $300 million policy at the ALP national conference in Sydney, Mr Rudd said it was a practical ''bread and butter'' plan to help families earning less than $250,000 a year to make their homes more energy and water efficient. He claimed the policy could generate up to $2 billion worth of green inspired investment and work for small business, especially tradespeople. He said it would cut up to $800 a year from household energy and water bills and ''increase the value of their homes''.

Global Warning Climate Change

Coal mining: Court rules in climate change considerations

This is the biggest thing to happen in global warming in Australia, so here it is verbatim: :::[ABC News]

Court finds climate change relevant to coal mine approval

A Newcastle environmentalist says a court ruling today means the New South Wales Government must take climate change into account when considering whether to approve new coal mines.

Peter Gray went to the New South Wales Land and Environment Court to challenge the environmental assessment for the proposed Anvill Hill coal mine in the Hunter Valley.

He argued the assessment was inadequate, because it did not take into account the impact that burning the coal would have on climate change.

The court voided the Government's decision that the environmental assessment was adequate.

Mr Gray is claiming victory, but says the ruling will not stop the mine from going ahead.

"It's certainly a setback for the process, I think it means a fresh look has to be taken at the mine," he said.

"The Government needs to consider the impacts that it will have on climate change so I do think it's a strong strike against Centennial Coal.'

The political and commercial repercussions of the Land and Environment Court ruling are being quickly felt as both the NSW and Federal Governments scramble to make sense of it. What, they didn't see the science coming? Not even the movie? But business has been asking for price signals on carbon for a while now. Now we know why.

That was late Monday. This is COD Tuesday:

The New South Wales Government says a court ruling on a coal mine proposed for the Hunter Valley could have significant implications for a range of industries, including mining.

and in federal politics, flushed from the gains of the Victorian Greens over the weekend,

Greens leader Bob Brown has attacked the Federal Opposition for voting against a motion to cap coal exports from Newcastle.

and scurrying from the light,

Federal Environment Minister Senator Ian Campbell says a proposed amendment to federal environment laws to reflect a New South Wales Environment Court ruling is not a solution to climate change.

This blog is heating up at a rate of 0.2 degrees a decade. Come back often.

Global Warning Climate Change Environmental Law CO2 Coal Mining Earth Australia Kyoto Energy

Iceberg armada floats a global warming business

The Stern Report warns of the economic perils of climate change, but he hadn't considered the global warming tourism boom to be had before we get to The Day After. New Zealand eco-capitalists are capitalising on the never seen before armada of 100 or so icebergs that are bumping into South Island, as they are driven further north than they usually get to before melting. So with eight charter planes and two helicopters newly commandeered to run two viewings a day, it's only a matter of time before a tourist films an iceberg cracking and sheering in all its magnificence. :::[SMH Video]

Ok, so I previously said that these iceberg shouldn't be used to make a case for global warming, but that hasn't stopped our eco-capitalists living off the tips of the icebergs (I hope you're off-setting your emissions, bro, you need trees to make icebergs). I anticipate boat fishing tours over the north pole next.

Other blogs on: Global Warning Climate Change New Zealand